WD20EARX Damaged, Dead, Muerto... Need Advice

[hitm4n]

Hi everybody,

Obviously I'm new here and discovered this great forum last week.
My experiences about hard drives failures, .. well not much.
I've had 2 drives fail on me in the past, a maxtor drive and a seagate from which i did recover data using RecoverM*F*les software.
So great story there it did all go pretty easy.
But with this wd20earx drive it's something else i can't resolve by myself.

Situation:
-I bought it 6 months ago and it suddenly died on me.
-It's used as an internal drive and did not have any kind of external shock or anything special.
-i was using the drive (its a secondary storage) then it just kind of froze my o/s, when i did reboot my pc => windows wouldn't start.
-it is recognized by the bios
-windows won't start if the drive is connected internally
-it is recognised when plugged with a external usb adapter (see file 24236)
-windows says the drive needs to be formatted
-the drive is making a weird noise

Diagnostic:
-i used the software 'find and mount' , ... tried to scan but no luck there
-used the WD datalife software... it does begin to scan the drive but kind of hangs always at the same spot. (see wd20earx WD Diag.png)
-i've made a recording of the noise it makes (wd20earsx damaged sound.wav tried mp3 also won't upload)

It looks like the head sticks to the platter, but I'm not sure at all.
Some ppl did advice the fridge (freezer) method but i don't like the idea much (I'll do that in last resort)

I did buy another new wd20earx. (to swap eventually the pcb or backup the data)

What should i try next ? swap the pcb, bang on it with a hammer? freeze it in liquid nitrogen... ?
Any sofware diagnostic i should use?
Any advice would be great, thank you in advance

h.

Attachments

usb adapter

24236.jpg (11.2 KiB) Viewed 5491 times

wd diag

[N.C.]

Hi,

your drive have phisical problem.
Media and/or head damage.
Simple PCB swap will not help.
You have 2 option:
- RMA the drive, you will get another one without your data.
- Seek for professional help.
At this point, Pro should have more ways for recover your data.
Not all should be expensive.
I suggest to do that if your data is important.
Many company offers free diagnose...

Janos

[hitm4n]

Hi Janos,

Is it because the WD utility is hanging at some point that it is sure it's a physical problem ?

If it is physical, i was more thinking about opening the drive myself to solve it, like in some youtube videos like here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c_MTX6- ... r_embedded
Or try the freezer method... (risky but does work sometimes)

the data is not critical but there is a lot, about 1.5 tb on the drive... i would like to get it back if not too difficult
I can't pay a company to do it (it's very expensive here to do that between 700 and 2500 Euro of what i know)

Either way i will RMA the drive, i'm just trying to get the data back.

I have a audio sample (i did amplify by 12dB) with the noise it makes maybe it will help for diagnostic...
thank you

Attachments

wd20earx damaged sound.rar

sound

(321.06 KiB) Downloaded 280 times

[mr_spokk]

Hi, your drive suffer from bad sector/cluster's.
You should image your drive and then do a scan with e.x Get Data Back.
If you don't care about you info, please put it in your freezer!
You don't have a stiction problem, so don't open your drive.

Today's technique is crap, harddrive fails, tv's not working, car's suddenly dies....you know why? Lowest Bidder.
Don't expect things to last even the warranty out...keep a backup close to you!

Regards/ Bosse

[hitm4n]

If it is physical, i was more thinking about opening the drive myself to solve it, like in some youtube videos like here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c_MTX6- ... r_embedded

that looks like a very bad idea... no i won't open it.

should i try to freez the thing ... ?

[hitm4n]

Hi, your drive suffer from bad sector/cluster's.
You should image your drive and then do a scan with e.x Get Data Back.
If you don't care about you info, please put it in your freezer!
You don't have a stiction problem, so don't open your drive.

Today's technique is crap, harddrive fails, tv's not working, car's suddenly dies....you know why? Lowest Bidder.
Don't expect things to last even the warranty out...keep a backup close to you!

Regards/ Bosse

ok i'll try recover my filez tonight and see what happens

[hitm4n]

Hi, your drive suffer from bad sector/cluster's.
You should image your drive and then do a scan with e.x Get Data Back.
If you don't care about you info, please put it in your freezer!
You don't have a stiction problem, so don't open your drive.

Today's technique is crap, harddrive fails, tv's not working, car's suddenly dies....you know why? Lowest Bidder.
Don't expect things to last even the warranty out...keep a backup close to you!

Regards/ Bosse

Indeed there's a high rate of failure and particularly these days.

I'll try to image the drive with recov*rmyfil*z.

thank you, i'll be giving results, if any tomorow

[labtech]

No, freezing is not a method to get drives to work. It is a method that was somewhat applicable a long long time ago. This is a misnomer and it does not apply to modern hard drives. It is completely irrelevant to your problem.

Best is to seek professional help.

Recommend member forum Dobre if he takes referrals...